Rudy Gobert said it best – Utah Jazz can no longer be “the team that’s close every year”

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert wants to see the Utah Jazz take things to the next level in 2019-20. Can they finally avoid being “the team that’s close every year”?

In a recent sit down with Aaron Falk of UtahJazz.com, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert had some pointed statements to make. Namely, it’s time for himself, and the team as a whole, to take their game to the next level.

Rudy expressed excitement about his tremendous offensive season in which he set a new NBA dunk record and had the most efficient year of his career. He likewise was elated at the fact that he has a chance to potentially be the back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year as he finds himself as a candidate yet again.

But more than just sing his and the team’s praises, he focused on how much the Jazz need to improve. He brought up the disappointing reality that, while the Jazz truly did make strides in the right direction this season, the fact that they lost in the first round made it feel as if they took a step backwards. He pointed out that while the team has been solid the past three years and that they are perhaps nearer to competing with the top of the West than most casuals recognize, there’s still work to do.

Along those lines, the message that stood out to me the most out of his comments was when he stated that the Jazz can no longer be “the team that’s close every year.”

Close.

That’s a perfect word to describe what the Jazz have been in each of the last three seasons – especially going into them. In 2016-17, a promising Jazz squad was ravaged by injuries which decimated their potential. A team that likely would have won over 60 games never quite got the cohesion they otherwise might have.

Even so, they made it through the first round of the playoffs. But when they got to round two, with Rudy Gobert ailing and George Hill out of commission, they were easily halted by the Golden State Warriors. If the Jazz would have been one hundred percent healthy, they very well could have challenged the Warriors further. They were close to doing so.

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The following year, the Jazz were expected to take a big step backwards. And for most of the early part of the season they did, limping to a 19-28 record in late January. But from there they caught fire and were prolific in the first round of the postseason, crushing the Oklahoma City Thunder before falling short to the Houston Rockets.

However, they beat the Rockets in Game 2 and nearly did again in Game 5, but a Ricky Rubio injury that year proved too costly as the rookie Donovan Mitchell could only do so much against the top seed in the West. If Rubio had played, the Jazz could have competed even further. Once again, they were close.

Their great performance to close out the 2017-18 season combined with the fact that they were rolling back a nearly identical roster and were expected to improve internally led to high hopes for their 2018-19 season. Many experts had them pinned as the second best team in the West heading into the season. That prediction had them about as close to the top as they could be.

Unfortunately, the year didn’t go quite as planned. The Jazz once again got off to a slow start. Donovan Mitchell did improve dramatically in the latter part of the year, but an injury set back his offseason work and delayed his improvement significantly. Meanwhile Ricky Rubio went in the wrong direction, Joe Ingles‘ efficiency dropped and Jae Crowder didn’t increase in effectiveness as hoped.

In short, the Jazz were close to being great, but the right things didn’t come together. When all was said and done, they ended up getting an unfortunate first-round draw against the Houston Rockets even though they were close to avoiding them and landing in a much more favorable spot. Instead, they lost in the first round in five games to a Houston team that went on to get crushed by the Golden State Warriors, making the Jazz seem far less ‘close’ to the top than they have in a while.

If you didn’t catch the theme, in so many ways the Jazz have been close to arriving for many years now. But as Rudy Gobert said, it’s time for that to change. Amidst Utah’s year that didn’t quite meet expectations, the Portland Trail Blazers continued to rise and the Denver Nuggets surged to arguably becoming closer to the top than the Jazz as well. In other words, they’ve got their work cut out for them even more than before if they want to turn the corner from being close to becoming actual title contenders.

To close that gap, the improvements will have to start from within. The leaps that were expected from the likes of Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and others, or at least the levels that were anticipated to remain such as the shooting of Joe Ingles, will have to be prevalent this next year. Mitchell can’t afford any sort of early slump. He has to up his efficiency and his decision making significantly.

Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert has to add more to his offensive game. That doesn’t mean he needs to be the next Brook Lopez burning the nets from deep, but even minor adjustments such as going to the rim strong with two hands more consistently to draw a foul, better ball handling and catching in the pick-and-roll, and some semblance of a reliable push shot would work wonders for his offensive repertoire.

He also has to get more versatile on defense. Yes, he’s a rim protector extraordinaire and may very well win his second straight Defensive Player of the Year Award. Nevertheless, against certain teams, principally the Houston Rockets, he at times is rendered defenseless as he needs to improve his ability to guard out to the perimeter when needed and figure out how to react when pulled out of the paint.

Beyond those two, there’s some uncertainty about who will remain on the Jazz roster next season. They have quite a few free agents such as Ricky Rubio, Thabo Sefolosha and Ekpe Udoh that likely will be gone. Anybody else could very well be traded. But whoever does stay has to continue to up their game as well. Ingles has to get his shooting efficiency back. Royce O’Neale has to continue to assert himself as a 3-and-D specialist. Jae Crowder needs to be a prototype Sixth Man. And Dante Exum has to find a way to make an impact.

Even if all that happens, the Jazz will likely remain not far from where they sit currently – close. Beyond all those aspects, they also have to bring in some fresh talent. If Utah is to take it to the next level as Gobert indicated, they can’t just rely on who’s currently on the roster to take them home. They’ll need some additional help.

It has become overwhelmingly clear that Utah desperately needs another playmaker and scoring threat to reach their utmost potential and maximize Quin Snyder’s offense. To do so, they’ll have to be aggressive this summer and find that missing piece via free agency or trade. There are already several potential targets that could fit the bill. Any of Kemba Walker (free agency), Mike Conley (trade) or Tobias Harris (free agency) would meet the requirements to fill Utah’s most glaring void.

They’ll also need a spot of luck to truly go from close to having arrived. What I mean is they’ll have to remain healthy. Many are the teams that have been superb but haven’t been able to reach their ceiling due to injury woes. Such has been a large problem for the Jazz in recent seasons.

It’s likely that they, like the rest of the league, will also need the Golden State Warriors to disband. Let’s face it, in some ways you could say that the entire NBA outside of the team in The Bay could be considered ‘close’ at best as none can quite measure up to the Association’s elite. While the Jazz should aspire to be the very best regardless of the level of competition, the unprecedented way in which Golden State came together feels essentially impossible to replicate or exceed.

In other words, quite a bit has to come together for the Jazz to finally no longer be the team that’s ‘close’ in 2019-20. They have to undergo significant internal improvement, some of which didn’t happen as planned this past year. That begins with the team’s two stars, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. They need to remain healthy and they have to hope the landscape of the NBA changes such that a more level playing field gives them a better opportunity.

And, last of all, they have to make a splash this summer, finding a way to add that one missing player – a playmaker and third star – to compliment what the Jazz already have in place. Utah has been close for so long. The only way they can close that gap is by finally landing a difference maker.

Could 2019-20 be the year that the Jazz finally take the leap that it feels like we’ve been waiting on for the past few seasons? Rudy Gobert seems to think so, and we’ll likely get a better idea of their odds based on what happens this summer. But it’s going to take more than talk to get there. The Jazz have to walk the walk as well.

They have a lot of work to put in and will need some fortunate results this summer if they are to finally refrain from being “the team that’s close.”